Every year, there is a big discussion in bookstores, coffee shops, online and in libraries about which are the bestsellers for Christmas. Guardian Books have listed their Best Books of 2011 and Black Friday UK are offering discounts for the Christmas Books List. Squidoo hope to navigate you through the treacherous maze that is book-buying at Christmas time.

So what is your rule of thumb for buying books for Christmas?

Do you avoid it all together, in case you get it wrong? Or do you ask exactly what they want? Could you be influenced by the book lists?

There are so many offers for Christmas in bookshops, and the influx of cartoon books, annuals, “stocking fillers”, coffee table books and celebrity memoirs create a bewildering, colour-exploding display in windows which can be terrifying to comprehend.

This year, you can choose from Alan Partridge, Lee Evans and a new Simon’s Cat book. In the world of biographies, cookery books, special editions, film accompaniments, is there really a decent “Christmas” book? And actually, does it really make a difference whether it comes out in November, or it’s been out for years?

Could you buy someone a classic, or is it going to be a stack of the Guinness Book of World Records for all and sundry? What do you want under your Christmas tree this year?